Tuesday, December 17, 2013

“When will I enjoy myself out here?!! “ I murmured to myself walking out of the
grand ballroom of the star hotel I worked.

Being in the house keeping section I
got to see all the lavish settings of the hotel and all the grand arrangements
for the parties that happened here every day. But we could never enjoy a party
as we were the ones in-charge.

“Rhea… We have someone waiting at the reception for you,”
said Mr. David who is the floor manager.

I head to the reception. A stylish girl dressed
impeccably and with silky hair like a dream, comes to me and pulls me into a
tight hug. I am confused as I can’t place her.

“Hey… Khushi..Oh my god!!..You have changed so much. Where did all your chubbiness and that
lice-infected-bushy-hair vanish?!!” I ask realization finally dawning on me.

Khushi was my best friend at the hotel management Institute.
We were nicknamed 'Siamese twins' as we were together 24/7. After the course
we had lost contact as I had moved back to Cochin and Khushi had gone to the US
to pursue higher studies.

“Hahaha..Haven’t I become a babe?!!It is all thanks to Sunsilk. Can we talk?,” asks Khushi
and we head to the visitors area to sit and talk leisurely; my afternoon break having
begun.

“I am getting engaged next month right here, and you have to
be with me throughout.I can’t handle my nerves alone. When I called your home, I found you work here. Lucky Me!! ,” says Khushi taking my
hands into hers.

“Hey…Hey..Go slow..Tell me in detail. Who is the unlucky
guy?” I tease Khushi.

“The very same…Tushar Khanna,” says Khushi with a wink and I
remember how big a crush Khushi had on Tushar ,our senior by a year, while in
college.

“Woww…I am so happy for you Khushi. Now out with the whole
story,” I demand and she tells me how while studying in the US they had ended
up being in love and how they are inseparable now.

After Khushi leaves, I sit rooted in the same place thinking fondly over the days past. The truth hits me hard then that I would look like
a vagabond among Khushi’s and Tushar’s relatives, who belonged to the elite
class of Delhi. I usually didn't care much about grooming other than what my
duty demanded; which was a passable neat look.

I approach my friend who works at the reception to get some
beauty tips and it is she who tells me the importance hair plays in completing
one's look.

“Most people are mentally lazy when they size other people
up. Hair grabs attentions the most after a pretty face. You have a very pretty
face and also very good skin. A little effort on your hair can go a long way,”
says Diana who can pass off as a Diva herself.

That is how I decide to go in for a hair spa with Sunsilk at
the trendy saloon next door.

After a single session I can see the change in my hair and
after two more sessions and a brilliant haircut by the Sunsilk hair experts, I cannot
help but notice the admiring looks of passersby.

Two days before engagement Khushi drops in with her mother
and takes me out shopping to a trendy boutique. She makes me model out many Ghagra
cholis and then finalize on a silky orange Ghagra with green and gold embroidery.

“This is my gift for you Rhea..For all those days of
happiness, to celebrate our friendship,” says Khushi and when I try to refuse
she threatens me with murder.

On the day of the engagement, Khushi and Tushar makes the loveliest couple I have
ever seen.

Little do I suspect then, observing the happy couple,that I had myself become an object of interest in
someone else's eyes. Not until I catch Rohit Mehra, Tushar’s best friend, staring at
me as if he was afflicted by tunnel vision and could see no one else.

I cannot help blushing as I had always cherished a secret
crush on him right from college. He had never even looked twice at me then.

Rohit comes near me
almost immediately and we spend the whole evening chatting with each
other. He comes to drop me at my room
and before leaving makes me promise to meet him the next day.

That was how it all had begun two months before.

Today I am blissfully happy. After two months of dating,
Rohit proposed marriage to me today. Quietly after a cozy dinner at our favorite restaurant he had surprised me with a proposal. And he had gone all out by going down on his knees for the entire restaurant to see. I had tears in my eyes when he had at last slipped the ring on to my fingers.

My parents have always supported all my
decisions and Rohit tells me fondly that his mother is equally keen to see us
get married soon.

How just recharging my hair had
recharged my entire life!!!

Gone was that inconspicuous
existence and here I was happily preparing to enter one of the richest families
in Delhi as their daughter- in- law. I am loved beyond compare by Rohit and my
secret crush had come back into my life as a forever love.We are to be married on the 15th of next month at the Grand Ballroom of the hotel where I worked!!!

This post has been written as part of a contest in
association with Indiblogger and Sunsilk.

Saturday, December 14, 2013

“Do you remember the first time we came here?” asked Brad
looking fondly at his wife of thirty years.

“Yes…You were so shy and would stammer every time you
addressed me. We were in our final year of graduation. Right?” said Anna with a
smile that lit up her face.

“I remember rehearsing for hours what to talk to you when I
finally got you alone. But when we reached here I found myself strongly tongue
tied,” said Brad with a chuckle.

“Yeah..It was the same with me. But those moments were amazing.
Though we had a tough time putting words together, it was the most memorable
date I ever had,” agreed Anna dreamily.

“Can you believe we have been married for thirty whole years??
It seems just like yesterday that I had gone with you to meet your parents with
the intention of asking permission to marry you. Your father was a terror with
his in depth questioning. Wanted only the best for his little girl,” said Brad.

“You know what? My mom hated that unclean stubble you
sported that day. It was later when she saw you on our engagement party that
she eventually became your fan,” said Anna.

“Really, I thought your mom was my fan from day one. And
this you tell me after these many years?” asked Brad with a smirk.

“Ho..She liked you alright. But she always hated men who
fail to groom themselves properly. According to her men looked proper without
that smelly stubble,” said Anna patting Brad’s hands.

“Whatever...This lake and this bench hold so many loving
memories. I kissed you for the first time here. Even if I come here alone, I remember
you and our love,” said Brad silently thanking god for the best gift god had
ever given him.

Friday, December 13, 2013

Watching the
rain, I feel it is my life that is being drained out. My hopes, my ambition;
everything was literally going down the drain.

It had been
a similar rainy day two weeks back, when driven by my youthful spirit, I had
rode my bike with a speed that had thrilled. With the rain pelting on my face
and body, driving through the almost deserted country lanes had been rejuvenating.

The euphoria
had ended in a disaster. I remember the ominous screeching of tires and the
blinding light before everything had gone blank.

Doctors tell
me I am paralyzed waist down. The
accident had wrecked havoc on my entire system. I don’t understand why god has
been so cruel to me. To be a paraplegic for life, was unthinkable.

I don’t
notice the tears that flow down my face until warm fingers wipe them away.

“Abhay, Don’t
… You have to be strong. Remember what the doctor said? You should not lose
hope. With regular physiotherapy you can get back whatever you have lost. But
you have to believe in that. You are not going to allow yourself to be confined
to a wheel chair your entire life,” says Tarun, my best friend.

Tarun has a
razor in his hand and has come as he says “to return me back to humanity”. I hate that
unclean stubble that has grown all over my face anyway.

He hands me
a small mirror after he is done. When I see the reflection that stares back, I
feel a new energy course through me. A new hope!

May be
everything was not lost.

Life has
given me a second chance. And this time I wasn’t going to waste it.

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

There is nothing in the
world like home and one starts to appreciate it better when he has been away
for a long time.

The last six months has
been a torture. I am a photographer with a leading newspaper and had been
posted in the Middle East to cover the civil war which had been raging there.

Looking at myself in the airport washroom
mirror, I realize that the war has taken its toll on me too. My beard is
almost two inches long and my mustache could easily find
a place in the Guinness book of world records, if they had a category for
the thickest one.

It is Christmas today,my
favorite festival. It always has been. I remember the delicious aroma of my
mom’s cooking, the sound of the chiming bells, the happy sight of the
presents stacked under the heavily decorated Christmas tree…Everything about Christmas was special!!

It was during Christmas
that I had met and fallen in love with Jane.

This Christmas was
doubly special; it is the first birthday of my son, our first among the brood
I wished to create with Jane.

Walking out of the
airport, I head for the nearest saloon to go in for a makeover. The staff there
marvels at the change when after a clean shave I get into my best Sunday
suit.

When Jane opens the
door, she hugs me tight and shed many happy tears.

“Welcome back
sweetheart… You look divine. I hated that smelly stubble you loved to sport,”
she says after the tears subside.

I kiss my sleeping son
and then head to enjoy the delicious dinner spread on the dining table. Jane is
all smiles watching me.